Devils facing uphill battle in finals

There’s no room for error from here on in, with the Albury Wodonga Football Association single knockout finals series kicking off this Sunday. Wangaratta City FC will be well represented in the postseason, with all senior and junior teams making the cut. For the senior men’s team, however, it’s not going to be easy to fight their way through three cutthroat matches. While qualifying for finals in seventh with a record of six wins, nine losses and five draws, their last win was over two months ago, a 5-2 win over Boomers on 28 June – since then, they’ve had five losses and two draws. Their last match was particularly rough, a 0-3 loss to lower-ranked finalist St Pats, just days after fighting out a 1-1 draw with second-top side Myrtleford Savoy. Division one men’s coach Vitaly Leschen said it had been a challenging run into the playoffs, and having their last three matches played over a span of seven days had been taxing. “The back end of the year definitely hasn’t gone according to the plan or the script, but I’m hoping we’ve saved up our three wins for the next three weeks,” he said. “I think everyone’s just excited, particularly with the fixture and all teams making finals – the atmosphere around the club is good and confident. “I don’t think we need to bounce back, to be honest – it was a bit of a dead rubber and I think there were a few tired bodies after the three games in seven [days]. “I think it won’t change from this weekend in terms of the intensity we showed when we played on Wednesday. “It’s not too concerning, just a bit of disappointing way to end the standard year, but if we get the job done on the weekend, no one’s going to remember that.” Entering the finals from the lower half of the top eight means the Devils will have to front up against some of the best squads in the competition. This weekend, their opposition is the old enemy Myrtleford Savoy, who claimed league and finals glory last season, and are tipped to go deep into it this time around. Leschen said the match will be intense, but the pressure was completely off his team. “It will be a good weekend, Myrtleford-Wang games are tightly contested, so I expect it will be a close game,” he said. “Everybody’s going to be up for it, they’re going to be up for it, it’s probably going to be a bit of a dogfight. “It’s an exciting round, and at the end of the day, the pressure’s all on Myrtleford – they’re the defending champions, we finished seventh last year and this year. “They have it all to play for, and all we can do is make an upset and get one over our rivals, which will be the aim.” The Devils take on Myrtleford Savoy in the first round of finals this Sunday, taking to the turf at Kelly Park from 3.30pm. Meanwhile, the all-conquering division two women’s side will look to continue their league-winning season with some finals silverware as they launch into their playoff campaign. The Lady Devils find themselves up against Melrose FC at Ian Barker Fields from 9.40am on Sunday, a team which held Wangaratta to a scoreless draw in their last match.

Devils facing uphill battle in finals

Wangaratta Chronicle, Wednesday, August 26, 2026

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